Guadalajara/Muenster -- BASF Coatings S.A. has been
awarded the "Q1 Preferred Quality Status" prize by Ford España
S.A. To celebrate this event, the company organized festivities attended
by its own employees and by representatives of Ford España S.A.,
government officials from the region and media representatives.

Ford uses an extensive auditing process to identify the suppliers which
are to receive this award. It recognizes companies which consistently
maintain an exemplary quality level, along the entire supply chain - from
materials design, support during line production and on through to customer
service, and that while meeting rigid standards and specifications which
demand superb performance.

Participation in the Ford Q1 program is in the interest of ongoing improvement
in the performance of Ford's suppliers in terms of quality, costs and
scheduling, all along the supply chain.

Close cooperation

At the very start of its relationship with Ford's Spanish operations,
BASF Coatings Group played in 1976 a decisive part when production of
the Fiesta model started at the Valencia plant. The painting line at the
Valencia plant was brought up to quality standards which are among the
highest to be found anywhere in the Ford Group.

Thanks to its close cooperation with the customer and its international
presence as a first-tier Ford supplier for various plants - at Saarlouis
in Germany, for Land Rover in England and in Valencia since May 2003 -
BASF Coatings is fully familiar with Ford's products and procedures.

BASF Coatings S.A. in Guadalajara

BASF Coatings S.A. is the Spanish subsidiary of BASF Coatings AG, Germany,
the parent company where the global activities of the BASF Group in the
field of paints and industrial coatings are brought together. BASF Coatings
S.A. goes back to the highly renowned Urruzola S.A. which, ever since
its founding in 1867, had been a major player in the paint market. In
1969 the BASF Group acquired Urruzola S.A. and thus strengthened its position
in the developing Spanish market for coatings.

The BASF Coatings Group makes use of advanced research and development
centers in Europe, North America, South America and Japan. The assignment
there is continuous research and development for new technologies. The
objectives of these efforts include improvements in environmental protection
and reductions in airborne solvent emissions by using water-based and
high-solids paint systems. Other goals are to reduce energy consumption
while cutting processing times by employing integrated, high-efficiency
painting techniques.

Active on five continents, the BASF Coatings Group is one of the leading
companies worldwide and drives as a pioneer rapid technological changes
in this market. BASF Coatings S.A. assumes this leadership role in the
Spanish market. Thus it is a reliable partner to its customers. That is
why BASF Coatings S.A. is seen as a preferred supplier to modern industry
and innovation leader in the coatings sector. It is the partner of the
industry which will keep its customers on the road to success also in
the future.

The business activities at BASF Coatings S.A., with its headquarters
and manufacturing facilities in Guadalajara, are focused on the production
of coatings for those industries which impose the most stringent technological
requirements. The most important business sectors are automotive OEM coatings,
automotive refinish paints and industrial coatings. The company brings
its extensive potential fully to bear in these strategic sectors, using
its experience and expertise to develop innovative solutions and products
in line with customer needs.

The company has one of Europe's most modern and best designed paint manufacturing
facilities. With total available floor space of more than 300,000 square
meters, existing plants occupy 150,000 square meters, divided among the
various production facilities: resin plant, paint factory, facilities
for the production of large batches and clearcoat plant. A wide variety
of industrial processes transpires here. They are used to produce the
coatings and extend from the company's own resin production to manufacture
of the finished products. The plant is equipped with the most advanced
technical resources in order to achieve this ambitious goal. Computer-aided
process control and monitoring, the integrated raw materials and products
handling system and the automatic dispensing, filling and palletizing
systems are expressions of the industrial philosophy employed here. Since
2000 BASF Coatings S.A. has its own marketing company in Lisbon, Portugal.

As the technological leader and partner to the most demanding industries,
BASF Coatings S.A. is active in the fields of automotive OEM coatings
(cathodic e-coats, primer surfacers, topcoats and clearcoats), automotive
suppliers (primers, topcoats and clearcoats for plastics, metals and hang-on
parts), in automotive refinish paints for aftermarket repairs (body fillers,
primers, filler surfacers and topcoats), in products for commercial vehicles
(manufacturers of coaches, trucks, trailers, rail vehicles and fleet operators),
in the wood industry (wood treatment and furniture production) and in
a broad range of other industries where comprehensive, high-quality, high-performance
paint systems are required.

BASF Coatings S.A. sees technological innovation, quality and health
and environmental protection as the pillars of its business activities.
The company is ISO 9001 certified (initially in 1994), and has been certified
to QS 9000 and ISO TS 16949 (since 2000). In 1999 it received the ISO
14001 environmental protection certificate. All these attest to the high
standards maintained in the quality assurance system, which is authoritative
in every area of company activity.

BASF : A major international player in coatings

BASF Coatings AG belongs to the global Coatings Division
of the BASF Group. In 2003 the Coatings Division achieved world sales
of about 2.0 billion euros. The Coatings Division develops, produces and
markets a high-quality range of innovative automotive OEM coatings, automotive
refinishes and industrial coatings as well as decorative paints, and also
the processes needed to apply them. In this business, eco-efficient water-based,
powder and high-solids coatings as well as radiation-curable systems play
a special part. In Brazil, the company has been successful in the decorative
paints market for years and holds the leading position. BASF has a major,
global presence in the Coatings sector, with significant market positions
in Europe, North America, South America and the Asia/Pacific region, for
example with affiliates in Australia, China, India, Japan, and the Philippines.